Please help me make a very important life decision!

[senterchris]

HI, I am 20 and am at that all important time in life when decisions about a career must be made. I know exactly what a want to do and that is to be a studio engineer, 2nd only to "Rock Star," even it means being the "get lunch" guy for several years. I have been a musician for most of my life and am currently attending a college that offers a studio recording class and that will soon offer a certificate program in recording. I have taken the recording class and have learned a great deal. We also do some live sound to. We've been working with a pretty decent Pro Tools Le setup.But, enough background. Basically, I don't know how to pursue this dream.I guess what I am looking for is a "Road Map" so to speak, but as we all know that doesn't exist. There are a few studios where I live but I don't know how to aproach them about a possible intern job. These are fairly small studios, however they always stay busy. And, I don't know how all this stuff works, as far as finding employment goes. I don't have the money to build my own studio. I have been rabid about this dream for a while. I have even considered joining the military just so they will pay my tuition to Full Sail in Orlando when I get out, which by the way costs about $34,000 for a ten month crash course. Any advise will be GREATLY APPRECIATED. Thanks in advance.

[Matrixmillion]

Well, im not an expert, but i say if there are studios you can apply for, then do that. Show them what you know and your showreel and see what comes up.

You actually have the luxury of having studios around you, where i live in the UK, the nearest ones i can think of are in London, 200+ miles away from me, and since im also only 17, it means i dont have a lot to show off to any studios.

Make the most of whats around you, its hard, but you need to be prepared when oppotunity knocks.

[ironsheik]

Here is what I've learned over the last 3 years on my road to becoming an engineer. I'm still in the slow lane but I see a lot of people doing things that I don't think will help a *career* in recording.

First of all, you have to be genuinely interested in recording. A lot of people do it as a way into the music biz but aren't really interested in how the process works. I started by buying some software, a small mixer and doing some recording. I got the bass all wrong mostly but I was happy to learn that I had ears at least. At the same time I started a one day a week internship at a studio in Boston. One thing about internships: find one where the engineer is interested in teaching. I got stuck with a shmuck who didn't give a shit about me even though I was ten times more eager than most college student interns. The other thing is don't ask a lot of questions. The right engineer will hopefully explain some things to you after the session. There was one guy there who engcouraged me to take advantage of time in between sessions and just run mics through the board, calibrate the tape machine etc... That was cool. You end up taking a lot away from an internship ala The Karate Kid. Remember Wax On, Wax Off?

After that I knew that staying in an intership, waiting to get hired was going to be a LONG process with slow results so when I moved to NY I built my own small studio. All the while I read everything I could get my hands on. I definately have more practical knowledge than any recording school graduate has and that's proven to me all the time when I work with my bud who went to recording school. He's got way too many rules in his head. I know them, but don't necessarily follow them.

Also, the more usefull you are in a studio, the more they'll like you as an intern too. I started with minimal knowledge and couldn't help out much. If I started now, I'm sure I could be assisting with mixes and doing repairs right away. Buy some small GOOD crap, record some friends and see where it can go. Make friends and get noticed. You'll either start interning, freelance engineering or start you own small studio while working a normal day job. In any case I don't think the challenge is getting into the biz, it's staying and making money. Good Luck,

JC

[imported_amadieous]

I'd like to include the fact that time is a very necessary commodity, if you don't have ht etime to be in the studio then you won't get anywhere, if your married, or, even have a full family life outside work you'll find it extremely hard to juggle life, the universe, and everything. but if it's what you want, then as everyone else said before, just go out there and show you're motivated and willing to learn.

good luck

[RecorderMan]

As you say, this is an important life decision:

My advice is (and you won't like it; will dis it and are probably to young to understand the truth of it)

RUN AS FAR AWAY AS YOU CAN

Make it a hobby.

Be forwarned. The music industry as it was is no more. It will never come back. Computers and corporations have distroyed it. Engineer's are becoming extremely irrellavant. Everybody with a DAW believes they are an engineer. The pies are getting smaller.

Forget those studios near you that are always working....they'll want you to work for free. If you really look at the cash flow of those "facillities" there a modest income for maybe one or two people or a tax right-off.
You might as well dream of being a rock star &/or winning the lottery...because the odds of success are seriuosly about the same.

And paying $34,000 to full sail? ha ha ha. Come out to the west coast and give me half that money...I'll get you hooked up at a studio faster than the graduating class that you'd be in AND teach you more....

Really though, you may not beleive it now but one day you'll want a life, family, kids (or not...I am assuming). The recording industry has always been tough but not like it is now....
...get a solid career and record on the side.... you'll be happier twenty years from now ( and don't say nobody warned you)

[harvardshark]

Recordman,

That's the best advice I've heard in a long time :w:

[Kurt Foster]

What RecorderMan says, but if you insist.... you should drop everything and move to a major recording center such as LA, New York, Nashville or maybe in your case Miami. You should try to secure an intern position at a major studio that is accommodating national artists / projects. Absolutely nothing else will suffice. Do what ever you asked to do and don't hesitatate to jump in if asked. After you accomplish all of these tasks it's still a crap shoot, a "in the right place at the right time" type of thing. My advise is to study electronics and
computer engineering and record as a hobby...Fats

[Opus2000]

Yeah...I like the run away as fast as possible solution...lmao

work your ass off...that's the best advice any one can give you....make people realize you are a "team" player. That is the key!
Also what everyone else has already said!
Opus

[bigtree]

Video killed the radio, Napster killed what was left of profit, DAW killed the engineer, producer and...... Recorderman said it all (So true), however,... life is short and precious.
I did it for more than twenty five years now. I wish I saved my coin along that way (when times were good) and invested it in things people need like real estate etc. Actually I did do that, made good return and like a passionate artist I bought more gear instead of ? Dam music business is our burden in life eh? If we don't do what makes us happy what do we have left? We need to survive and in the end a family means more than it all. Your children become your greatest creation. Now I have a new child coming (number 2) and what I will most likely do is use my skills and studio to produce music for me and my children. Teach them how important music is but to be realistict about it all. If my music doesn't sell, I don't give a dam. It's for me and I don't expect to ever get signed or be famous. This way there are no dissapointments. I'm not a failure, I'm a musician with a cool studio and a life.

I do believe a new day will come though where we can sell music again. I would love to brain storm on this subject. I've wanted to do this here for some time but I think the reality of this subject keeps most of us from talking about it. At 20 who cares, at 40 you know how hard it is to make a good song heard, it's a lot more than being excellent. Successful business is necessity, luck and hype.

I believe we are in a new era, the days of "big Studios" IMO are slipping away. The computers are taking over jobs that need more than two people to make it happen. Everything is becoming self contained including this business. Where it goes from here I don't know but music will always be here. More tunes will be created. The big question is how do we make money at it?

Cheers

[Kurt Foster]

bigtree,
IMO the only way street level guys like us can make any money in recording anymore is in song and talent development. I'm fortunate enough to have managed to secure a few contacts with record labels along the way and to have sold some projects to them. That's the only way I see anything happening. For example... a label I know of in a far away land likes to buy original projects in a certain genre mainly for the publishing rights. They will promote the product and put it out into international distribution but they really only want the songs. If I can find the right artist with enough original material I can get a lable advance of 7 to 10 K if they like what they hear. The trick is to convince the artist to sell their songs to the publisher. I can't tell you how many times I have had a conversation with a songwriter explaining the concept of 70% of somthing is worth more than 100% of nothing. Songwriters all think they have written the next "Yesterday" and are reluctant to part with it. I am guilty of this too. The most foolish thing I ever did in regards to this was turning down a home town aquaintances offer to follow him to LA and record a song for him I had written. I was afraid the guy was trying to get his hooks into my songs and I was overly protective. A couple of decades later he is in LA and is the owner of one of the major recording studios in the southland. His name? Skip Saylor. My name? It doesn't matter, you wouldn't recognize it anyway...... Fats